In what staff are calling the worst case they have seen in decades, 80 cats and 12 dogs were removed from a single home in Martin County and brought to the Humane Society of the Treasure Coast in one day.
"Yes, 80 cats and 12 dogs were all brought in in one day to the Humane Society from the same home," said Sarah Fisher with the Humane Society of the Treasure Coast.
The animals arrived in a range of conditions, Fisher said, with most showing signs of neglect.
"They're in various conditions," Fisher said. "Some of them are in okay condition, but the majority of the animals are underweight." She said many also have fleas, missing fur and dental disease.
Staff are now working through each animal's medical needs before any can be made available for adoption — a process that's on hold until investigators finish their work.
"We're waiting on the Martin County Sheriff's Office investigation to be completed, so we can't put anyone up for adoption until that happens," Fisher said.
Once that investigation wraps up, Fisher said healthier animals could be ready for adoption within a week or two, while others recovering from more serious neglect will need additional time.
News of the rescue has drawn a flood of calls from residents hoping to foster, adopt or donate, Fisher said. Others have called with a different question: whether one of the animals might be their own missing pet.
Investigators suspect the person responsible for the hoarding case had been picking up feral and outdoor cats from around the neighborhood — but not all of the animals may have been strays.
"That's what we suspect," Fisher said, when asked whether some animals may have been taken from their owners. She said neighbors near the home reported cats going missing, and earlier this week, shelter staff reunited one woman with her cat after the two had been separated for some time.
"She lived 15 minutes away from this woman's house," Fisher said. "We got to reunite them today."
Fisher said the Humane Society occasionally handles smaller hoarding or animal-dumping cases, but nothing on this scale.
"A hoarding case like this, it's very rare," she said. "I think this is the first time — at least in the last 20 years — this is the worst case we have seen."